Mad Hatter Tea...without the "mad"

So, my mother in law has always had a special attraction to tea parties with her granddaughters.  She likes the proper etiquette, the fancy dishes, the chatting around the table in ladylike tones...

I haven't necessarily "acquired" these polished refinements...although I DID go through a little class about "ladylikeness" back at church in the 80's...and so it is a special treat to have tea with Nana...

She usually plans one tea per year with all the granddaughters and this was Little Munchkin's first time to attend...I can't begin to express to you the excitement which was barely contained in that spunky, 3 year old body...but after she donned her Sleeping Beauty dress and her princess, light-up, musical shoes...she announced that she was ready and we should all be on our way...

The girls had a lovely time and my Italian Stallion and I had a little lunch date...

Nana had every detail covered...

There was something special about bringing a baby picture too...she had the table settings all set up with baby pictures of herself and of her sister-in-law who had traveled from PA for the special event.

and, I gotta say...doesn't this cake look scrumptious???

yep...all those details...even down to the HAT MAKING

this stuff turned into this:

everyone made their own...

What a wonderful afternoon for my girlies...

And now they get to come home to mom and slurpin' chocolate milk from a crazy straw, whilst eating nachos from a plastic bowl...I'm thankful that they're learnin' some manners somewhere:)

I made it...

I made it through today...

The girls got on the bus, they waved, they had big smiles...

I cried...

I cried some more...

which caused Little Munchkin to cry...

and then we ate some gummy worms...because really, SUGAR HEALS ALL THINGS!!!

It's me and Little Munch this year...we're buddies...and so I had to purchase her some "buddy shoes"...the ones that say, "Mommy needs you sweet precious little girl...love me forever and never leave me on a big yellow bus and go off into the world without me...okay?"

And so, I got her these:

Yes...they are LIGHT-UP, MUSICAL, PRINCESS shoes...I can't believe I purchased them (in my sane mind), but in my over pathetic, sappy, only have one little girl at home mind...these are soooo sweet for my baby!!!

Judge me if you must...but we are dancing to some pretty cool musical shoes and if we turn off the lights, it's like disco central!!! 

Go Mama, go mama...

hey p.s.  if you want to feed into my insecurities and boost it a bit...hop over to ctphotomemories and browse around...I've had a few photo shoots lately and they've been fun...(I know, it's a shameless plug)

School Starts Tomorrow

Did you read that title correctly?  It said,

"School Starts Tomorrow"

I'll let that sink in a moment.

don't let the sniffling and gulping and pitiful sounds of me crying in the background disturb you...

We're ready...we've

met the teachers
purchased all our supplies
found a semi-new to new/clean outfit to wear in the morning
bought all the school lunch stuff like granola bars, carrot sticks, cheez its, oreos, 3 x 5 note cards so Mommy can write a little note every single day of school and hide it in the lunchbox for them to lovingly open and read each day around noon while mommy watches the clock and thinks that they "may" be reading that note at THIS VERY SECOND...

*I think I'm loosing it*

I'm not normally this pathetic...

no really...I'm not...

I'm going to blame it on the fact that I've gained about 5 lbs this summer due to my overload of Pepsi, starbucks, and all things Cheesecake Factory...this in turn has caused some major hormonal balance swings which can only be the direct cause to my hyper sensitivity to my eldest daughters heading to school FULL TIME for this next school year.

I suppose I ought to get ready for these new "seasons" of life...anything CHANGE related scares me half to death...it gets me into a tailspin of worry...b/c I don't just thinka bout this year...I start snowballing into when Munchkin will be heading off to school full time and then what will I do b/c I don't know if I can handle going back to teaching and how will they ever have a nice wedding and afford college if I don't do something and what if I become a crazy mother who stalks their children at school or worse yet, I become the president of the PTO and have secret dreams of speaking from a podium about the evils of twinkies and the blessings of box tops???  HEAVEN HELP ME!!!

I will awaken tomorrow morning and make my children their chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes.  I will get them dressed and ready and scurry them out to the bus stop.  Little Munchkin and I will cry and wave as they get on the bus and head off to their brand new school with Mac computers and smart boards...things that I have no idea bout and I will just keep breathing in and out and take Little Munch out to breakfast and on a date to get new shoes for the first time in her 3.2 years of life and then we'll play and wait for them to return home again in the afternoon. 

And that's it folks...
as I said...

School Starts Tomorrow

Life got a little easier...

Can you guess what we got?

Let me tell you...it's pretty sweet!

After my darling husband changed a motor coupling and the lid switch...(and may I interject that I am quite proud of myself that I can actually articulate those particular mechanical parts in the post...and it makes me feel quite superior...even though I most assuredly would NOT be able to point them out in a picture line up)

But that is all beside the point...he did a bunch of "fixin" and it didn't take...so we paid a repair man to come over for 3 minutes to tell us that our old washer had a bad transmission and that it would cost over $400 to fix it...

'nuf said...I hit Italian Stallion up for the front load washer and he came through with this...

Can I tell you that's it's a little slice of heaven in my laundry room?  I can do ALL my colors in ONE load.  I can do ALL the sheets, pillow cases and a couple pillows in ONE load. I can shove so many pairs of jeans and towels into this baby that I"m literally giggling as I keep shovin' stuff in...

I read through that manual like a bible...I want to make sure this thing lasts a longggg time...it just makes me so happy...and believe you me...it takes quite "something" to make me happy about LAUNDRY!

Now, as long as my old drier can keep up with Miss Front Load MIRACLE machine, we're set!!!

Non Flushing versus Scotch Tape

I wish I could come up with some witty, fun to read information for the 10s of people that happen to pass across this blog on a biweekly basis (notice my expectations are not all that high with regards to my stellar writing abilities) (I have also noticed that I am enjoying the usage of the word: stellar...I believe my brain has fallen back into the early 90's and lodged there for the time being)

The thing is, my brain HAS been a little lax lately, but I think it's due to the fact that it doesn't want to face the reality that my older 2 children will be heading off to school ALL day EVERYDAY in a little over a week...8 days to be exact. 

The librarian told me today that I'm the only person she knows that is NOT looking forward to school being in session...

Now, granted...will it be nice not to have to mediate every argument over who gets to use the telephone to call the friend next door?  will it be peaceful in my house without the white noise of strawberry shortcake and the continual hum of the Electric Company buzzing in the background?  will it be pleasant to NOT have to constantly check toilets and flush them due to impatient girlies that don't have TIME to push the handle...got to get back to play???

Well...YES!  Of course...

Of course there are some ups to the all day school thing...

But on the flip side (where I am currently choosing to pout and station myself) is that I WON'T have my girlies with me...we can't just jump in the car and head to the zoo, we can't run outside fora quick zoom through the splinker, we won't be making forts out of the couches and blankets and selling lemonade to unsuspecting 3 year old sisters, I won't hear their laughter, giggling, playacting with Calico Critters for hours upstairs, my house will be free of scotch tape on every wall boasting pictures and drawings from whatever book or movie they may be acting out at any particular moment...

and because of that, I am sad...and would gladly take the cons along with all those fun things any time, any day!

So pardon my less than...

less than....

ummm....

less than...stellar? (ahhh the word DOES come in handy)
post this evening...please excuse me as I go down a pint of java chip ice cream and drown my sorrow in a can of Pepsi...because if you will remember...I gave up on the diet I started last Monday...I'm waiting until at least school starts...and who knows if my brain will cooperate even then...

beware if you see me walking around in leg-warmers and hot pink headbands and greeting people with, "Isn't it a STELLAR afternoon??"

to diet or not to diet

I've discovered a new love...

I cannot tell you the degree to which this dessert pleases me...

I received a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory for taking photos at a wedding recently.  I used the card for the first time on our anniversary date back in July.  I always mull over these choices when I'm faced with such fabulous options...I mean, do you go for Godiva, PBcup with chocolate, fresh strawberries??? 

And then I spied this...

I had to put the picture up again, because...YUMMY!

Actually Italian Stallion spied it and was actually going to get it until I beat him to it...and seeing as we always get something different so that we can share, he was left with...whatever else he got because once my eyes feasted on this...

I literally ran to the nearest bench and scarfed it down...IS "might" or might not have gotten his little "share"...I don't know b/c I can't tell you whether I stopped long enough to offer him a sample or not...

probably not...

Anyway, we still have a little bit left on the card and so my honey thought it appropriate to go for another round the other night...

Once again, I don't think he got a chance to taste it...

I can't help it...it's THAT good...

I'm thankful that we at least have one more round to go, but at this rate, my idea of the whole "summer diet"...it's not treating me well...

between Starbucks, MDs frappes, these Cheesecake delights...my pooch is LOVING me and does not show signs of packing up and leaving home...

what's you favorite summer YUM???

Recent Funny Occurances and Lessons Learned Recently

#1
Me:  Honey, can you pick up the BIG 2lb bag of chocolate chips at Costco, we're out again.
Italian Stallion: Sure, I'll bring it home after soccer practice
keep in mind: heat index at 100sweltering + chocolate chips left in a car for 1.5 hours

Me (a few hours after his arrival): Did you happen to remember the chips?  (notice the PLURAL here)
Italian Stallion (directing my attention to the freezer): Ummm, I brought home a CHIP

Folks, I have a 2 lb mound of chocolate in my freezer that USED to be chocolate chips...

#2
Many children on school trips at a science museum in the middle of a lightning and thunderstorm will find much amuzement by pulling the fire alarm and forcing everyone out into said storm. Museum workers (teenage/college students especially) will find it very frustrating when mothers, who KNOW that it was a prank and understand that there is a no real fire, will NOT take their children into the dumping rain and risk having their children struck by lightning...

This will happen at least twice during a visit on a rainy day...

#3
When your washing machine quits spinning and you've changed the motor coupling and the lid switch and paid the repair man to come and tell you that it's the tranmission and then you fork over $70 for him to tell you that...you CAN still get your washing machine to work AND let out some major frustrations at the same time!!!  BONUS!  You can also speed up the process of purchasing  a new washer by twisting husbands work shirts by hand to wring out water in the backyard and then calling to complain about said job at least a 3 times throughout the day:)

#4
Trying to lose 10 lbs in the summer when there's yummy ice cream and frappaccinos to eat, not to mention a HUGE chocolate chunk in your freezer, is pretty much a ridiculous endeavor...just wait until winter...

Happy week everyone!